Disabled Boy With Roaming Testicle Sent Home From Hospital For An Awful Reason

Here’s a deeply tragic story of a health care system failing someone who needs it the most. Gloucester boy Jack Ellis is severely disabled with cerebral palsy and confined to a wheelchair. A recent incident left him with a broken hip and a “roaming testicle” – that’s when one of your gonads doesn’t stay in its place and instead can venture into your abdominal cavity or other unwanted locations. The surgery to address the issue isn’t complicated, but Jack’s condition requires him to be lodged in a special bed so he won’t injure himself. And that’s where the problems come in.

When Jack was admitted to Bristol Children’s Hospital, they weren’t able to place him in the special bed and instead offered him both a normal hospital bed and a mattress on the floor, neither of which would allow him to rest without the threat of additional physical harm. Because they couldn’t accomodate him, the boy’s surgery was cancelled and he was sent home in intense pain while the hospital got their act together.

Now the disabled youth is forced to take morphine daily to manage the pain from his untreated conditions as the hospital works to find a bed to lodge him. His mother spoke out, saying “I couldn’t believe it was happening, I was thinking, ‘surely they will not waste taxpayers’ money sending my son home in pain when they could hire the bed he needs’. But they did. As Bristol Children’s Hospital is a tertiary hospital and covers all children in the South West it must provide services for all these children. Jack is not unique requiring these beds.”